S9233
LOWE, Harold
| Service Number: | 712 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | England, 17 December 1881 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Iron Worker |
| Died: | Seizure , Port Pirie Hospital, South Australia, 27 July 1941, aged 59 years |
| Cemetery: |
Port Pirie General Cemetery, South Australia CP1, Lot 269, Grave 9 |
| Memorials: | Laura Public School Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 712, 43rd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Jun 1916: | Involvement Private, 712, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Jun 1916: | Embarked Private, 712, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Adelaide | |
| 21 Sep 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, 712, 32nd Infantry Battalion | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Private, 712, 32nd Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Harold Lowe's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Paul Lemar
Harold LOWE was born in Aston Villa, Manchester, England on 17.12.1881 to Benjamin Richard LOWE (1854-1931) and Matilda LOWE nee PLANT.
The family migrated to Australia around 1884. His father was an ironworker and tinsmith in his own business in Laura and Harold went to work with him.
Harold LOWE joined the AIF on 15.02.1916 and was allocated service number 712A. He was attached to the 32nd Infantry Battalion. The battalion travelled to England in June 1916 and then to the Western Front in France. Harold LOWE was hospitalised with rheumatism and myalgia (continuous muscle pain) on 18.11.1916 and as a result, sent to England for treatment. He remained in England for some months before being returned medically unfit to Australia returning to France.
On returning to Australia on 05.06.1917, he spent time at the Keswick Repatriation Hospital before being discharged as medically unfit on 21.09.1917 and granted a service pension of 3 pounds per fortnightly from 22.09.1917.
32nd Battalion 1916/17. The 8th Brigade joined the newly raised 5th Australian Division in Egypt, and proceeded to France, destined for the Western Front, in June 1916. The 32nd Battalion fought its first major battle at Fromelles on 19 July 1916, having only entered the front-line trenches 3 days previously. The attack was a disastrous introduction to battle for the 32nd -' it suffered 718 casualties, almost 75 per cent of the battalion's total strength, but closer to 90 per cent of its actual fighting strength. Although it still spent periods in the front line, the 32nd played no major offensive role for the rest of the year.
In early 1917, the German Army withdrew to the Hindenburg Line allowing the British front to be advanced and the 32nd Battalion participated in the follow-up operations. The battalion subsequently missed the heavy fighting to breach the Hindenburg Line during the second battle of Bullecourt as the 8th Brigade was deployed to protect the division's flank. The only large battle in 1917 in which the 32nd Battalion played a major role was Polygon Wood, that was fought in the Ypres sector in Belgium on 26th September 1917.